Burial-casket.



F. E. HOLLINS.

BURIAL GASKET.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTJO, 1914.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

AT T Y's sra'rns arana? OFFICE rnnnnnrox E. HoLLINs, or wmcn ssrnn, MASSACHUSETTS.

BURI ALCASKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedDec. 1, 191 1.

Application filed se tmter 10, 1914. Serial No. 861,033.

0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. Hon- LINS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Winchester, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial'Caskets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a burial casket the bottom of which is provided, usually at the corners, with recesses, which expose portions of the casket wall for the purpose of forming grips or handles at the bottom portion of the casket, the recesses being of suitable size and shape to permit the insertion of the fingers of persons carrying the casket.

The invention has for its object to provide improved means for covering or shielding said bottom recesses so that they will not communicate with the interior of the casket,

said covering or shielding means being pref- Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of the shield detached from the casket. Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4:.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, (t represents the bottom, 7) one of the body ends, 00 the body sides and d the body corner piece of a casket of octagonal form. My invention, however, is not limited to a casket of such form and may be applied to caskets otherwise formed.

It is customary to provide the bottom a t with finger-receiving recesses f in suitable portions of its edges, usually at the corner portions, said recesses exposing the lower edges of parts of the casket wall or body and, as here shown, the lower edges of the corner pieces at, so that said lower edges constitute grips or handles, the recesses f permitting insertion of the fingers through the bottom a.

In carrying out my invention I provide for :each recess' f a shield 12 whichis preferably composedi of a sheet metal blank; to which the cuppechor concavo-convex form represented by Figs. 3 and 4 is imparted by suitable dies. -tThe base of the shield12 is formed to it the margin of the recess 7", the shield projecting above the orifice and forming one side of a finger-receiving pocket 13. Theshield constitutes a barrier between the fingers inserted in said pocket and the storage space in the casket. The shield is provided with means whereby it may be attached to the casket, said means being preferably embodied in a flange 11 integral with the shield and adapted, in the embodiment of the invention here shown, to bear on the inner surface of the corner piece (1, such flange having oblique wings 15 adapted to bear on the inner surfaces of the head and side pieces I) and c. Saidflange and wings are perforated to receive attaching screws as represented by Fig. 1. The lower end of the shield is preferably provided with a horizontal flange 16 adapted to bear on the under side of the bottom a to aid in supporting said bottom and preventing it from sagging.

The shield 12 constitutes a neat finish for the interior of the casket at the portions where the recesses f are formed, concealing said recesses and preventing the upholstery or lining material within the casket from protruding through said recesses. The shield and its flanges constitute a reinforcing member or part which materially adds to the strength of the casket, particularly at the corner portions thereof.

My invention is not limited to the form of the shield and its attaching means here shown and the same may be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A casket provided with a finger-receiving recess in the edge of its bottom exposing the casket, and a shield attached to the casket and formed to cover said recess and constitute one side of a finger-receiving pocket, said shield having a bottom-supporting flange engaged with the bottom of the casket.

3. As an article of manufacture a cupped shield formed to cover a recess in the edge of a casket bottom and to constitute one side of a concealed finger-receiving pocket, said shield having means engaging the interior of the casket for attachment thereto. 7

4. As an article of manufacture a shield copies of this patent may be obtained for formed to cover a recessin a casket bottom and to constitute one side of a finger-receiving pocket, said shield having means for attachment to a casket, and a bottom-supporting flange adapted to engage the casket bottom.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my Witnesses C. F. BROWN, PETER W. PEZZETTI.

five cents each; by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 7 

